The Binding of Isaac: Repentance introduced a wealth of new content, arguably the most exciting being the Tainted Characters. These alternate versions of existing characters offer drastically different playstyles and challenges, adding incredible replayability to an already expansive game. Unlocking them requires a specific process, which can be daunting at first. This guide provides a detailed, step-by-step breakdown of how to unlock each Tainted Character, making your journey through the depths that much more rewarding.
Understanding The Requirements: What You Need Before You Start
Before you can even think about unlocking Tainted Characters, there are a few crucial prerequisites you must meet. These are fundamental to the unlocking process and cannot be bypassed.
Owning The Repentance DLC
First and foremost, you absolutely must own the Repentance DLC. Tainted Characters are exclusive to this expansion; without it, the necessary items and locations simply won’t exist in your game. Make sure the DLC is installed and active before proceeding.
Defeating Mother At Least Once
You will need to have defeated the boss Mother in the Corpse path at least once. This unlocks the “Red Key” item, or its alternative, which is essential for the next stage of the process. If you haven’t yet conquered Mother, focus on practicing your runs and learning her attack patterns. It’s a challenging fight, but mastering it is crucial for unlocking Tainted Characters.
Initiating The Unlock: The Red Key Or Cracked Key Conundrum
Now that you have the prerequisites out of the way, it’s time to start the actual unlocking process. This involves obtaining either the Red Key or the Cracked Key and using it to access a secret room.
The Red Key: A Guaranteed Path
The most reliable way is to obtain the Red Key, an item added in the Repentance DLC. There are two ways to get the Red Key:
* Holding a trinket called the “Cracked Key”.
* Holding an item called the “Red Key” itself.
The Cracked Key automatically activates after defeating Mom. It will spawn a red key fragment near the starting room.
The Red Key item needs to be obtained through other methods like item rooms, angel rooms, or through the use of items that grant items.
Reaching The Home Floor
The Red Key allows you to open red door on the Home floor. This is the floor you reach after defeating Mother. This is a guaranteed method, provided you can defeat Mother consistently.
Entering The Tainted Character Room: The Final Step
Once you’ve reached the Home floor and have the Red Key or Cracked Key ready, it’s time to unlock your first Tainted Character.
Locating The Secret Room
On the Home floor, you need to find the room that is located one room above the starting room. Once in this room, use the red key to open the red door and access the tainted character selection room.
Choosing Your Tainted Character
Inside this room, you’ll find a bone pile (or a “corpse pile”). The character you are currently playing as determines which Tainted Character you unlock. For example, if you’re playing as Isaac and interact with the bone pile, you’ll unlock Tainted Isaac.
Once you interact with the bone pile, the character is unlocked. The next time you start a run, you’ll be able to select the Tainted version of that character from the character selection screen.
A Character-by-Character Guide To Unlocks
Here is a breakdown of which character you need to play as to unlock each corresponding Tainted Character:
| Character | Tainted Character Unlocked |
|---|---|
| Isaac | Tainted Isaac |
| Magdalene | Tainted Magdalene |
| Cain | Tainted Cain |
| Judas | Tainted Judas |
| ?? (Blue Baby) | Tainted ??? |
| Eve | Tainted Eve |
| Samson | Tainted Samson |
| Azazel | Tainted Azazel |
| Lazarus | Tainted Lazarus |
| Eden | Tainted Eden |
| The Lost | Tainted Lost |
| Lilith | Tainted Lilith |
| Keeper | Tainted Keeper |
| Apollyon | Tainted Apollyon |
| The Forgotten | Tainted Forgotten |
| Bethany | Tainted Bethany |
| Jacob & Esau | Tainted Jacob |
Tips And Strategies For Consistent Unlocks
Unlocking all the Tainted Characters will take time and effort. Here are some tips to help you speed up the process and make it less frustrating:
- Practice Makes Perfect: Get comfortable with the base characters first. Understanding their strengths and weaknesses will make your runs more consistent and increase your chances of reaching Mother.
- Prioritize Survivability: Focus on defensive items and stats like health, speed, and damage reduction. Surviving longer increases your chances of reaching the Home floor.
- Learn Enemy Patterns: Knowing how enemies attack is crucial for dodging projectiles and avoiding unnecessary damage. Study enemy behaviors in each floor.
- Optimize Your Item Choices: Learn which items synergize well with each character and prioritize those items during your runs. Some items can drastically increase your power and survivability.
- Don’t Be Afraid to Restart: If you get a terrible start with a character, don’t be afraid to restart the run. Time is valuable, and sometimes it’s better to start fresh than to struggle through a difficult run.
- Utilize Seeded Runs Sparingly: While you cannot use seeds to unlock achievements, you can use them to practice specific floors or boss fights. This can help you improve your skills and learn strategies without wasting time on full runs.
- Take Breaks: If you’re getting frustrated, take a break from the game. Coming back with a fresh perspective can often improve your performance.
- Play to Your Strengths: If you have a character you’re particularly good with, use them to unlock some of the more challenging Tainted Characters. For instance, Azazel is a strong character who can make reaching Mother easier.
- Learn the Corpse Path: The Corpse path is known for its challenging enemies and bosses. Learning the layout of each floor and the attack patterns of the enemies is crucial for surviving this path.
- Focus on Key Items: Keep an eye out for items that can help you reach the Home floor more easily, such as items that grant flight, increase your damage, or provide healing.
Understanding The Tainted Characters’ Quirks
Each Tainted Character has unique abilities and playstyles that differ significantly from their normal counterparts. Experimenting with each character is key to understanding how they work and how to maximize their potential. Some are incredibly powerful, while others present significant challenges.
Overcoming Common Challenges
Many players encounter difficulties when trying to unlock Tainted Characters. Here are some solutions to common problems:
- Difficulty Reaching Mother: Practice, practice, practice. Learn the attack patterns of each boss on the way to Mother, and prioritize items that increase your damage and survivability.
- Forgetting the Red Key: Make a mental note (or even a physical one!) to remember to grab the Red Key after defeating Mother. It’s easy to forget in the heat of the moment.
- Getting Lost on the Home Floor: The Home floor can be confusing. Explore every room carefully and use the map to your advantage.
- Choosing the Wrong Tainted Character: Double-check that you’re playing as the correct character before interacting with the bone pile. It’s easy to make a mistake if you’re not paying attention.
- Not having enough health: Having sufficient health for the final boss fights on the home floor is critical. Prioritize finding items and passive abilities that increase survivability.
The Enduring Appeal Of Tainted Characters
Tainted Characters add a significant layer of depth and complexity to The Binding of Isaac: Repentance. They offer unique challenges and playstyles that can breathe new life into the game, even for experienced players. Unlocking them all is a rewarding experience that will test your skills and knowledge of the game.
The addition of Tainted Characters significantly extended the game’s lifespan and replayability. Each character presents a new puzzle to solve, forcing players to adapt their strategies and learn new ways to play. This constant evolution keeps the game fresh and engaging, even after hundreds of hours of playtime.
The unique challenges posed by Tainted Characters force players to think outside the box and experiment with different item combinations and strategies. This experimentation can lead to unexpected synergies and powerful builds that you might not have discovered otherwise.
Unlocking all the Tainted Characters is a significant achievement that demonstrates a deep understanding of the game’s mechanics and a willingness to overcome challenges. It’s a testament to your dedication and skill as a player.
The Binding of Isaac: Repentance continues to evolve and surprise players with its depth and complexity. Tainted Characters are a prime example of this, offering a fresh perspective on a beloved game. So, dive in, embrace the challenge, and unlock the secrets of the Tainted Characters!
How Do I Unlock The Lost In The Binding Of Isaac: Repentance?
Unlocking The Lost in Repentance is one of the most notoriously difficult unlock challenges in the game. It requires a specific series of deaths, each with a different character and in a particular room. First, you must die as Isaac in the Basement or Cellar to a Mulliboom. Next, you must die as Magdalene in the Caves or Catacombs due to an explosion caused by yourself. Third, Cain must die in the Depths or Necropolis, being killed by a Mom’s Foot stomp. Finally, Azazel must die in Utero or Womb, succumbing to any non-self-inflicted damage, typically a boss.
Crucially, these deaths must be consecutive, meaning no other runs can be started or completed between them. Utilizing seeded runs is possible but only for the first three deaths. After the first three deaths, the fourth death requires a legitimate run to avoid seed restrictions imposed after earlier Repentance updates. Successfully completing this brutal gauntlet unlocks The Lost, a character famed for his powerful spectral tears but also his vulnerability, starting with only the Holy Mantle if it’s unlocked, and unable to gain red heart containers.
What Are The Key Benefits Of Playing As Tainted Lilith?
Tainted Lilith’s primary benefit lies in her unique familiar, Gello, who attacks independently. Gello essentially allows her to fight at a distance, providing a significant safety net. The familiar’s attacks are powerful, and positioning Gello correctly can lead to efficiently clearing rooms without putting Lilith in direct danger. This makes her especially strong against bosses with predictable patterns or when dealing with room layouts that are difficult to navigate as a melee character.
Furthermore, Tainted Lilith can further manipulate Gello’s positioning with the press of a button (default ‘Ctrl’). This allows for strategic placement, such as keeping Gello behind cover, aiming at specific targets, or using it as a shield against incoming projectiles. Combining this with items that affect familiars can amplify Gello’s damage output and create a formidable force. This manipulation, combined with her starting item Box of Friends, lets her multiply Gello, scaling her damage incredibly fast.
How Do I Unlock Tainted Isaac?
To unlock Tainted Isaac, you must first obtain the Red Key. This is achieved by defeating Mother (the alternate path boss, accessed through Downpour II and Mines II) with Isaac. Once you have the Red Key unlocked in your secrets, start a new run as Isaac. Locate a Red Key shard in either the starting room or the treasure room of Basement/Cellar I or II, use it to open the red door that leads outside of the starting room, and interact with the corpse of Isaac outside the house.
After interacting with the corpse of Isaac, the game will trigger a transformation sequence, converting Isaac into Tainted Isaac. This transforms the run into a Tainted Isaac run, unlocking the character for future use. It’s important to note that you don’t need to complete the run as Tainted Isaac to permanently unlock the character; simply reaching the transformation is sufficient. You can then start future runs directly as Tainted Isaac from the character select screen.
What’s The Best Strategy For Unlocking Tainted Cain?
Unlocking Tainted Cain requires using the Red Key (unlocked by defeating Mother as Isaac) to access the alternate version of the Womb/Utero floor. Once you’ve obtained the Red Key, you must start a normal run. On the Womb/Utero floor, use the Red Key to open a red door to a special room that contains a locked chest surrounded by pickups. Interact with the chest as Cain to unlock Tainted Cain.
The main challenge is simply reaching Womb/Utero with a Red Key without dying. To increase your chances, focus on prioritizing items that grant flight, invincibility, or substantial damage output in the early game. Don’t be afraid to reroll for a strong start. Once you reach the Womb/Utero, use the Red Key or Cracked Key to open the special room and interact with the chest as Cain to unlock Tainted Cain.
How Does Tainted Judas Differ From Regular Judas?
Tainted Judas is vastly different from the original Judas in terms of playstyle and inherent abilities. While regular Judas starts with higher damage and a small health pool, Tainted Judas relies almost entirely on the active item, the Dark Arts. This active item allows him to dash through enemies, dealing massive damage and inflicting the Sin effect, which causes enemies to take increased damage. However, activating Dark Arts also consumes one heart container if he has any, making him a risky character to play.
Unlike regular Judas, Tainted Judas doesn’t gain a damage boost from being at low health. Instead, his power comes from strategically utilizing the Dark Arts dash. Learning the timing and range of the dash is crucial to effectively clearing rooms and defeating bosses. The Sin effect from Dark Arts stacks, making him incredibly powerful against bosses with multiple phases or large health pools. He excels at aggressive gameplay, rewarding players who can master his unique dashing mechanic.
What Are The Advantages And Disadvantages Of Tainted Jacob?
Tainted Jacob’s main advantage is his potential for immense power through his Dark Esau transformation. Dark Esau, when freed from Jacob’s control, becomes an extremely powerful and aggressive attacker that can easily clear rooms and deal significant damage to bosses. However, Dark Esau will constantly chase Jacob, dealing significant damage if he catches Jacob. If Dark Esau kills a boss, Jacob receives a powerful temporary damage boost, incentivizing risky play.
The biggest disadvantage of Tainted Jacob is the constant threat of Dark Esau turning against him. If Dark Esau touches Jacob, Jacob instantly dies. This makes Tainted Jacob one of the most difficult characters to play, requiring precise movement and strategic thinking to avoid being killed by your own familiar. Items that provide speed boosts or temporary invincibility can be helpful, but ultimately, success with Tainted Jacob depends on mastering the character’s unique challenges and limitations.
How Can I Unlock Tainted Bethany?
Unlocking Tainted Bethany requires using the Red Key (unlocked by defeating Mother as Isaac) in the Corpse floor. Start a regular run and reach the Corpse as Bethany. Then, use the Red Key to open the red door in the starting room. Touching the skeleton in the red room will transform Bethany into Tainted Bethany, unlocking her for future runs.
The challenge lies primarily in surviving until the Corpse floor as Bethany, a character who relies heavily on utilizing soul hearts. Prioritize items that generate soul hearts or enhance their effectiveness, such as Nun’s Habit or Book of Revelations. Effective use of her unique ability to convert soul hearts into wisps is crucial for both offense and defense. Maintaining a consistent supply of soul hearts and avoiding red heart damage is key to reaching Corpse and unlocking Tainted Bethany.